The Florida Public Service Commission next week could approve a proposal that would lead to Gulf Power Co. customers paying $206 million for costs related to Hurricane Sally.
Commission staff members have recommended that the regulatory panel approve adding the storm-restoration costs to Gulf Power customers’ bills starting in March. The commission will consider the issue March 2.
Hurricane Sally caused major damage in mid-September in Pensacola and other western areas of the Panhandle. Under the proposal, a residential customer who uses 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a month would see a $3-a-month increase.
Utilities commonly use 1,000 kilowatt hours as a benchmark, though electricity use varies widely.
However, the PSC is also considering a second rate adjustment for Gulf Power following the early retirement of the former Plant Crist.
The Sally cost recovery would result in a $3 increase per 1,000-kWh residential customer bill, which would be more than offset by a decrease in Gulf Power’s Environmental Cost Recovery Clause (ECRC) factor for 2021 to reflect the savings associated with the early retirement of coal, said Communications Manager Sarah Gatewood.
If approved by the FPSC, both adjustments to customer bills would result in a net decrease in the typical residential customer bill of $0.73, she said.
Plant Crist, which has been renamed Gulf Clean Energy Center, was converted to run completely on natural gas at the beginning of the year. Gulf Power began converting the former Plant Crist to natural gas last year, and the original plan was for the plant to run on natural gas with the ability to use coal as a back-up fuel.
However, according to Gulf Power spokesperson Kimberly Blair, Hurricane Sally damaged the plant’s coal-handling equipment, and Gulf Power decided to retire its coal operations completely.
Gulf Power customers also are paying charges related to Hurricane Michael, which devastated parts of Northwest Florida in 2018. The Michael charges translate to $8 a month for residential customers who use 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity.
Gulf Power and other Florida utilities have long been allowed by the Public Service Commission to add extra charges to bills to recover costs related to restoring power after storms. The arrangement has been baked into rate settlements in recent years, including in a 2017 Gulf Power rate settlement.
